Method of making pens



D. KAHN Dec. 19, 1939.

METHOD OF MAKING PENS, AND STRIP FOR PEN BLANKS Filed Oct. 18, 1935 Patented Dec. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF MAKING PEN S, AND STRIP FOR PEN BLANKS Application October 18, 1935, Serial No. 45,664

10 Claims.

This invention relates to pens and has special reference to a pen and method of manufacturing the same.

In the production of pens for smooth writing, it is quite common to provide on the pen tip, where it contacts with the paper, a rounded contacting surface commonly termed a ball. Such points are frequently referred to as ball pointed pens.

In the more expensive pens, such as gold pens, these balls are usually made of some very hard material, such as iridium, and are soldered in place. Cheaper pens, such as steel pens, have been devised in which the ball is formed in different ways. For instance, the ball in one such pen is formed by bending the tip back and under. In another form, wings are provided, one on each side of the tip, and these wings are bent down to lie parallel to each other. In both of these forms, great loss is experienced by the portions which are bent breaking ofi.

In still another form of such pens, the thin metal strip from which the pen blank is cut is rolled or stamped to force some of the metal out of the plane of the body of the strip in the form of a small hollow projection, the blank being then cut so that this hollow projection forms the point. This also offers objections, owing to the difficulty of stamping or rolling such a small hollow projection from the very thin material from which the pens are made without splitting or cracking such material.

One important object of the present invention is to provide a novel method of manufacturing pens with ball points, wherein the strip is so rolled as to provide a solid projection on that face which becomes the inner face of the pen when the manufacture is complete, the other face of the strip being maintained as a plane.

A second important object of the invention is to provide an improved method of manufacturing pens wherein the strip used for producing the pen blanks is rolled at intervals to provide a transverse projection or rib on one face, the rib being rounded longitudinally of the strip so that it takes a segmental cylindrical form, and the other face of the strip being left as a plane surface.

A third important object of the invention is to provide a novel form of pen having a ball formed integrally with the tip throughout its base. That is to say, the ball is formed without any bending down or under of projecting parts, but is an integral part of the strip from which the pen is formed.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in general of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and:

Figure l is a plan view of one form of the strip, after rolling, to provide the ball forming projections.

Figure 2 is an edge View thereof.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a second form of such strip.

Figure 4 is an edge View of the second form.

Figure 5 is a plan view of a third form of such strip.

Figure 6 is an edge view of this third form.

Figure 7 is a plan view of a fourth form of the strip.

Figure 8 is an edge view of the fourth form.

Figure 9 is a plan view from the underside of a pen blank as cut from the strip, the view being to an enlarged scale.

Figure 10 is an edge View of the blank shown in Fig. 9.

Figure 11 is a view from the inner side of the completed pen, as constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 12 is a View showing the manner of rolling such a strip as is used in connection with this invention.

Figure 13 is a cross section through the guide used in rolling the strip.

In the construction of pens of this type, it is preferred to use stainless steel stock in the form of a long strip. This strip is of sufiicient thickness to form the necessary ball and the body of the pen. For instance, the original stock may be .035 inch thick. This stock is passed through rollers so as to leave ribs or projections at intervals of substantially the thickness of the horizontal stock, but between these projections the body of the pen stock is rolled down to provide a considerably thinner body, as for instance, to a thickness of .010 of an inch.

As shown in Fig. l, the rolling provides a series of transversely extending ribs ii) of segmental cylindrical form, between which is thin pen body material I I. In this form the ribs run from one edge of the strip to the other. In the form shown in Figures 3 and 4, the ribs are indicated at i2 and are short ribs which project from body stock l3, these short ribs being also of substantially segmental cylindrical form. In the form shown in Figures 5 and 6, the ball forming projection is semi-circular in plane as at M and the remainder of the stock i5 is rolled thin to provide for forming the body of the pen. Similarly, in the form shown in Figures 7 and 8, each projection is hemispherical in shape, so that it is circular in plane and the stock I1 is rolled down to pen body thickness. It will be noted that in each of these forms, the projection is rounded longitudinally of the strip.

Using any one of these strips for the purpose, the stock is run through a blank cutting machine to cut a blank, the body of which is shown at E3 in Figure 9, and this blank is so cutthat the tip I9 includes at least a portion of the width of the projection to form a ball 25. In such cases as are shown in Figures 5 and 7, the ball 20 may be formed from the whole projection (it in Figure 5 and it in Figure 7) if a coarse pen is desired. II", on the contrary, a fine pen is desired, the ball will be out only from a portion of such projection. The penis then finished by pressing the blank into a hollow trough-shaped form, as is usual in pens, and providing a slit 2| at its forward end, this slit passing through the ball to divide it into two portions, as clearly shown in Figure 11. The pen may be then plated or lacquered, or otherwise finished, as desired.

In making the present pen point, the rolling of the stock introduced quite a problem, as the stainless steel or chrome steel, from which the pen is made is difficult to work. When the ordinary two high grooved rollers were employed, the stock cracked due to its inability to expand laterally. To overcome this problem, the stock is passed between a flat. cylindrical roller and a roller having grooves. As shown in Figure 12, the stock is passed between a flat smoothly cylindrical roller 22 and a roller 23 having grooves or depressions 2 5 at intervals around its periphery. These two rollers are so spaced as to roll the original stock, which may be about .035 inch thick, in one pass through the rolls down to pen body thickness, which may be about .010 inch, while leaving the stock raised at spaced intervals, as shown in the drawing.

pansion.

The present invention provides a method of making the pen in which the pen stock is reduced in one pass through the rollers from. its original thickness to that thickness which is required for the final pen body, with the exception that ribs or projections are provided which finally form the point of the pen. The chrome or stainless steel stock is in the form of a long strip, which is continuously passed between the rollers to produce a continuous supply of pen point blanks having ribs or projections at intervals of substantially the thickness of the original stock.' The strip, therefore, is provided with a multiplicity of potential blanks, each having a raised portion which serves for the formation of the ball of the pen.

It is believed to be broadly novel in making pens to pass stainless steel or a material such as stainless steel which expands differently laterally than longitudinally while being worked, between a smooth roll and a grooved roll and guide the material through the rolls. It was found that if the guides were not provided, the material moved laterally and the method was impractical. The solution was to provide the guides so that the material could travel in a straight line. I

In the claims the term metal is used to include metal alloys. Chrome or stainless steel is an example of a metal alloy which is characterized by the property of expanding diiferently laterally than it does longitudinally. However, it is within the spirit of the present invention to use equivalent metal alloys, and, further, the invention may be practiced even with metal that does not expand differently laterally than it does longitudinally. It is believed to be broadly novel to provide an elongated metal strip for pen blanks having relatively thick portions forming projections extending from one face at intervals of its length, the opposite face of the strip being a plane surface. While chrome steel or stainless steel olfers a particular problem in production. this has been overcome. The broad inventive idea, as above set forth, may be applied to other metals or metal alloys. While it is preferred to have the projections substantially of the original thickness of the metal strip, this is the preferred relationship of the projections to the pen point strip, and it is within the spirit of the present invention to make the projections less than the original thickness of the strip, and in many cases, by suitable procedure, they may be greater than the original thickness of the strip.

With pens of this character, very smooth writing is accomplished and there is no loss incurred from breakage, due to bending of the very small tip end. Also, the manufacture can be carried out very rapidly and economically.

It is obvious that changes may be made in the form and construction of the pen and in the method of manufacture without departing from the material principles involved. It is not, therefore, desired to confine the invention to the exact form of article and method of manufacture herein set forth, but it is desired to include all such as come within the scope claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. The method of forming pens having a solid ball point integral therewith comprising reducing the thickness of a chrome steel strip at intervals in one pass between a smooth roll and a roll having depressions on the periphery thereof, while forming at intervals on said chrome steel strip projections of the shape of the solid ball point of the pen substantially of the original thickness of the strip, cutting blanks from the strip and integral therewith with each projection out to form the point portion of the pen, bending each blank transversely of its length to the shape of the finished pen with'the projection at the point on the inner side of the arc of curvature, and slitting the forward end of the pen.

2. The method of forming pens having a solid ball point integral therewith comprising forming projections of the shape of said solid ball point on one face of a strip of metal and integral there with, said projections being rounded and spaced in the direction of the length of the strip while maintaining the other face of the strip as a plane surface, cutting blanks from the strip with each projection out to form the point portion of the pen, bending each blank transversely of its length to the shape of the finished pen with the projection at the point on the inner side of the arc of curvature, and slitting the forward end of the pen and the projection.

3. The method of making pens having a solid ball point from metal stock comprising reducing the thickness of longitudinally spaced sections of the metal stock to the thickness of a pen to produce a ball-forming projection composed of a solid integral mass of stock metal rounded in the direction of the length of the metal stock blank and substantially the shape of the said solid ball point on one face of the stock, cutting blanks from the stock with the ball-forming projections positioned to form the point portion of the pen, and forming the finished pen therefrom with the ball projection at the point thereof.

4. The method of makin' pens having a solid ball point from metal stock comprising reducing the thickness of longitudinally spaced sections of the metal stock to the thickness of a pen to produce a ball-forming projection composed of a solid integral mass of stock metal rounded in the direction of the length of the metal stock blank and substantially the shape of the said solid ball point on one face of the stock, cutting blanks from the stock with the ball-forming projections positioned to form the point portion of the pen, bending each blank transversely of its length to the shape of the finished pen With the projection at the point on the inner side of the arc of curvature, and slitting the forward end of the pen and projection.

5. The method of making pens having a solid ball point from metal stock comprising reducing the thickness of longitudinally spaced sections of the metal stock to the thickness of a pen to produce a ball-forming projection composed of a solid integral mass of stock metal elongated transversely of the metal stock blank, rounded in the direction of the length of the stock blank and substantially the shape of the said solid ball point on one face of the stock, cutting blanks from the stock with the ball-forming projections positioned to form the point portion of the pen, and forming the finished pen therefrom with the ballprojection at the point thereof.

6. The method of making pens having a solid ball point from metal stock comprising reducing the thickness of longitudinally spaced sections of the metal stock to the thickness of a pen to produce a ball-forming projection composed of a solid integral mass of stock metal elongated transversely of the metal stock blank, extending entirely thereacross, rounded in the direction of the length of the stock blank and substantially the shape of the said solid ball point on one face of the stock, cutting blanks from the stock with the ball-forming projections positioned to form the point portion of the pen, and forming the finished pen therefrom with the ball-projection at the point thereof.

'7. The method of making pens having a solid ball point from metal stock comprising reducing the thickness of longitudinally spaced sections of the metal stock to the thickness of a pen to produce a ball-forming projection of segmento-cylindrical form composed of a solid integral mass of stock metal rounded in the direction of the length of the metal stock blank and substantially the shape of the said solid ball point on one face of the stock, cutting blanks from the stock with the ball-forming projections positioned to form the point portion of the pen, and forming the finished pen therefrom with the ball projection at the point thereof.

8. The method of making pens having a solid ball point from metal stock comprising reducing the thickness of longitudinally spaced sections of the metal stock to the thickness of a pen to produce a ball-forming projection circular in plan composed of a solid integral mass of stock metal rounded in the direction of the length of the metal stock blank and substantially the shape of the said solid ball point on one face of the stock, cutting blanks from the stock with the ballforming projection positioned to form the point portion of the pen, and forming the finished pen therefrom with the ball projection at the point thereof.

9. A strip for pen blanks consisting of an elongated strip of metal substantially the thickness of the pen body portion of a pen having relatively thick portions forming projections extending from one face at intervals of its length, the opposite face of the strip being a plane surface, said projections being integral throughout their base with the remainder of the stock and being shaped to correspond to the shape of the writing surface of a finished pen.

10. A stainless steel strip for pen blanks consisting of an elongated strip of metal substantially the thickness of the pen body portion of a pen having relatively thick portions forming projections extending from one face at intervals of its length, the opposite face of the strip being a plane surface, said projections being integral throughout their base with the remainder of the stock and being shaped to correspond to the shape of the writing surface of a finished pen.

DAVID KAI-IN. 

